


Penny Farthing

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Sexual Behavior, Late Night Writing, M/M, Semi-Polyamorus Relationship, Third Wheel!Sam, Unbeta'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:24:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The secret to third-wheeling is knowing when to make yourself known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penny Farthing

**Author's Note:**

> I'm shit at consistent tenses. This takes place in a universe where Cas and Dean start up a relationship after Cas decides to become a hunter. Unbeta'd.

Sam Winchester wouldn't deny that he is the thirdest wheel to ever accompany a couple in all of history. He sees the looks people give him, people who have been in his position. People who have been in Dean's. People who have been in Castiel's, which some people think is no different than Dean's. They would be wrong, because Castiel was the outsider, accepted or not. Cas was the one that had been introduced into the partnership, splitting it in two and reforming it around himself. Sam had the right to be upset with Castiel, but of course he was not. He would deny that some think he and Castiel have no relationship. It is quite the opposite. Castiel had gripped both the Winchesters and raised them out of Hell (one more sloppily than the other), reassembled both the Winchesters from the ground up, and harbored both their souls while doing so. The only difference was that he'd never quite let go of Dean, and Dean hadn't either. Perhaps it was just a first come, first served sort of thing. Nonetheless, Sam does not wish he was in Dean's place, and he and Castiel do still share a comfortable friendship, albeit with that little something more that accompanies an almost profound bond.

One more thing he would be quick to deny: his brother and guardian angel were not the victims in the situation. He was not preventing Castiel and Dean from socializing effectively, he was not keeping them from being intimate in their own odd way. Sam was forced to be present while they had one of their deep, strangely placed personal moments. He knew to keep his head down and his thoughts far away when Castiel stretching his hand out and placed it on Dean's shoulder in the way the younger brother knew was more than a casual touch. He had learned the tells of his constant companions, somewhat unwillingly, and he knew exactly what to do when he saw them. This was the life of a man who lived in the same ten by ten block with his brother and his brother's significant other every day for years. Sam wasn't sure if he'd have it any other way.

In a sense, the continued presence of his two greatest protectors had become his security blanket. Like a whole new friend itself. Sam knew, not from being told but seeing himself, that the two felt their own end of the situation. They were antsy with out their protectorate by their sides, and they were usually happier with him there. Team Free Will was not the same when one of their number was missing, and that more than made up for the awkward moments they were bound to experience, which were always bound to be unconventional. He never did interrupt a kiss or some ooshy-gushy baby talk. Sam never did pull them away from a date or walk in on them having sex. He instead walked into a room, saw some intense eye contact, and walked out. He would drop his sentence mid-word when Castiel suddenly decided that moment was a good time to commune with Dean, feeling his thoughts and emotions on the subject through mind-reading. There were nights when he went hungry when Castiel and Dean had gone out for food, and instead zapped away for hours, coming back and acting as though nothing had happened. Sam would be inclined to say he had been present when they had "sex," though.

For one, he was extremely, monumentally, over-extraordinarily glad that Dean and Cas did not have conventional sex. He already slept little and lightly, and would not respond kindly to banging headboards and loud moaning. They still had sex, sex that wasn't really sex and couldn't honestly be defined as sex, but there was orgasming involved so Sam counted it anyway. It consisted of Cas using his knowledge (provided by Sam) of figuring out when Dean was feeling a little too pissy from deprivation of bodily pleasure and triggering a powerful orgasm. Castiel had yet to figure out the proper places for such encounters, and Sam was more often than not present. He had learned to keep an extra change of clothes and wet wipes in the Impala at all times, something for which Dean was especially grateful while shooting dirty looks at poor Cas. Sam had learned to not be surprised if and when his older brother suddenly locked up, gripping tight whatever was in his hands and cursing under his breath. Sam had learned to look up from his laptop or gossip rag and (pretend to) shake his head discretely no, now was not a good time. Castiel would respond with (pretend) widened eyes and a hasty nod back, and Sam would grab the keys his brother's shaking hands placed on the table, retrieving the post-"sex" supplies from the trunk.

That process was not uncomfortable any more. That was old hat. That was also slowly growing into Cas' idea of being funny, which Sam ended up going along with because what was a brother for if not making one's life harder. What was awkward was that Castiel sometimes did it to Sam, and Sam was always half a part grateful and three and a half parts concerned or worried. Dean constantly assured him that it wasn't too weird for him, that the three of them had been to Hell and back for each other so what was a little physical gratification every once in a while. It never kept the younger from worrying that one day, Dean would be upset. It was probably the most uncomfortable part of the relationship, no matter how necessary it was. Sam was not a saint, but he wasn't a Dean either, and so Castiel only ever did it before Sam showered while Dean was out buying food or doing casework. It was a situation that came about a little less often than one would think. Sam only ever blushed in place of thanks, and Cas never expected anything different. That was the arrangement, and it was awkwardly acceptable.

Sam's second most ungainly responsibility as a third wheel was actually making himself known. He would eventually have to walk back into that room, and hope that they had dropped their loving staring contest. He would eventually have to clear his throat pointedly and jar the angel out of his brain scanning. He would eventually have to inform his guardians that another victim had been killed, or the AC had blown while they had been away. They usually responded in varying degrees of apology, to which Sam had become almost numb. He understood why they did what they did (well, not really the disappearing thing), and hearing them time and time again drew away the meaning of the words. He responded to all of their quickly stuttered recompense in the same way, with a small nod and a weary half-grin. It really didn't bother him any more. It was just part of the job.

But Sam's least favorite part of the job as third wheel was mediating between their sparse fights. Dean and Castiel were both stubborn asses, and refused to talk for days when they didn't see eye-to-eye on an issue. They would send him back and forth as a messenger, shouting nasty insults at each other through their own personal Hermes. It very often go to the point where Sam would refuse to repeat any of the things they told him to say to each other, and would force them to work out their issues together. The first time he tried to resolve one of their fights, Castiel had vanished from the room and stayed away for three days. Sam knew now to keep an angel-binding sigil on the wall during all fights, and kept a bottle of spray paint on hand for when the couple made up. He was more than accustomed to lounging on the couch, thinking idle thoughts while Dean and Cas competed to see who could make the most sailors blush. He very often had to put forth his opinion on the matter, and tried his hardest to stay neutral and to speed up the making of amends. Not matter how angry, Dean and Cas always made up, maybe even kissed and made up if they were feeling really sorry.

Sam's favorite part of the job was when they came to him for advice. It always ranged somewhere between hilarious and adorable. It always came in the form of Dean kicking at ground, asking in a grumbly, I'm-still-a-man-but-I-want-to-do-something-sweet-for-my-boyfriend tone, or Castiel appearing on his bed and posing questions about how to make more pop culture references or how to make pie. They were the sort that would rather go to someone else than to spill their clumsy adorations to each other. Sam would always have to walk them though it, because Cas was Cas and Dean was allergic to showing affection. It made Sam happy to know that they trusted him enough to come to him, that he was important enough for them to include in their relationship. Castiel and Dean always wanted him to be present for whatever he had helped them with. It was true, it warmed his heart to see the surprise on Cas' face when Dean unveiled a car just for the angel, it made him smile to hear their shared laughter in the kitchen when Cas gave Dean the first slice of the first pie he'd ever made. He wouldn't lie, he was a little lonely and a little jealous, but that all paled in comparison to when they sat in the Impala, rocketing down the road and singing the classics at the tops of their lungs. 

Sam and Dean had lost many people, their father and mother and Jessica and Bobby, and gained some friends too, in Charlie and Kevin and Garth. The brothers couldn't deny, their thoughts did drift to Lisa and Amelia every once in a while. They thought of everyone who had died by their hands, friend and foe. But what mattered most was that they were a family. They were the Winchesters, three in number with one outsider accepted in. They were comprised of a fallen angel, a former demon blood addict, and the most self-conscious high school drop-out in the world. They wouldn't have their life any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I think awkward trios are comparable to penny farthings. The person not in the relationship is the most obvious, like the front wheel. The couple relatively inconspicuous in terms of awkwardness and seen as one part of the whole together like the little wheel in the back. This is my reasoning for a completely unrelated title.


End file.
